Idylls of the King

The Arthurian legend of Camelot has been told many times, but never better than by Alfred Tennyson. Employing some of the most stirring and beautiful blank verse ever written, Tennyson crafted his version of the Knights of the Round Table over the course of nearly fifty years, completing it in 1885. Despite the length of time, Tennyson managed to maintain a high level of style and continuity throughout.

The Mabinogion

The Mabinogion, the earliest literary jewel of Wales, is a collection of ancient tales and legends compiled around the 12th and 13th century deriving from storytelling and the songs of bards handed down over the ages. It is a remarkable document in many ways. From an historical perspective, it is the earliest prose literature of Britain. But it is in its drama that many surprises await, not least the central role of King Arthur, his wife, Gwenhwyvar, and his court at Caerlleon upon Usk.

The Faerie Queene

This remarkable poem, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I, was Spenser's finest achievement. The first epic poem in modern English, The Faerie Queene combines dramatic narratives of chivalrous adventure with exquisite and picturesque episodes of pageantry. At the same time, Spenser is expounding a deeply-felt allegory of the eternal struggle between Truth and Error....

The Once and Future King

The complete "box set" of T. H. White's epic fantasy novel of the Arthurian legend. The novel is made up of five parts: "The Sword in the Stone", "The Witch in the Wood", "The Ill-Made Knight", "The Candle in the Wind", and "The Book of Merlyn".

Histories of the Kings of Britain: King Arthur

This may rightly be considered one of the first published sources of the King Arthur legend. The translation by Sebastian Evans of this selection of Geoffrey of Monmouth's chronicle of ancient British kings differs in several respects from more popular versions of Arthurian tales published centuries later. Notably absent here are the Round Table of knights, the Holy Grail, Guenevere's affair with Sir Lancelot, and the Lady of the Lake.

The Life and Writings of C. S. Lewis

What can we still learn from C.S. Lewis? Find out in these 12 insightful lectures that cover the author's spiritual autobiography, novels, and his scholarly writings that reflect on pain and grief, love and friendship, prophecy and miracles, and education and mythology.

The Canterbury Tales: A New Unabridged Translation by Burton Raffel

Lively, absorbing, often outrageously funny, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is a work of genius, an undisputed classic that has held a special appeal for each generation of readers. The Tales gathers 29 of literature's most enduring (and endearing) characters in a vivid group portrait that captures the full spectrum of medieval society, from the exalted Knight to the humble Plowman. This unabridged work is based on the new translation.

The Aeneid

The Aeneid represents one of the greatest cultural and artistic achievements of Western Civilization. Within the brooding and melancholy atmosphere of Virgil's pious masterpiece lies the mythic story of Aeneas and his flight from burning Troy, taking with him across the Mediterranean the survivors of the Greek onslaught. Aeneas, after many travails and adventures, including a love affair with Dido Queen of Carthage and a visit to the underworld to see his father, ends up in Italy.

The Foundations of Western Civilization

What is Western Civilization? According to Professor Noble, it is "much more than human and political geography," encompassing myriad forms of political and institutional structures - from monarchies to participatory republics - and its own traditions of political discourse. It involves choices about who gets to participate in any given society and the ways in which societies have resolved the tension between individual self-interest and the common good.

The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

For hundreds of years, the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table has been one of the world's most precious literary possessions. In 1902, the distinguished American artist Howard Pyle undertook to retell and illustrate this classic. His four-volume work has long been considered one of the outstanding interpretations of the Arthurian cycle.

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

These stories are about how, many years ago, Arthur the once and future King of England, set out to save his country from the troubles that plagued it, aided by the brave knights of the Round Table, and the most famous sword in the world, Excalibur. How Merlin the Wizard fought against the wicked Morgana le Fay's enchantments, and how Arthur loved and lost the beautiful Guinevere, his Queen.

Ivanhoe

Ivanhoe is the perfect novel for any listener who loves an action-packed adventure based on the mythology and legends of Medieval times in England. Set in the 12th century, Ivanhoe is the story of a young man who joins up with Richard the Lion Hearted during a dark time where England is split between the Normans and the Saxons, pitting friends and family against each other through the conquering of land and the changing seats of the Royal Family.

The Mists of Avalon

A posthumous recipient of the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, Marion Zimmer Bradley reinvented - and rejuvenated - the King Arthur mythos with her extraordinary Mists of Avalon series. In this epic work, Bradley follows the arc of the timeless tale from the perspective of its previously marginalized female characters: Celtic priestess Morgaine, Gwenhwyfar, and High Priestess Viviane.

The Canterbury Tales [Audio Connoisseur]

If you want to understand the daily life and psychology of the Late Middle Ages, Neville Coghill's famous translation of The Canterbury Tales provides one of the very best means of doing so. Within its pages are to be found a broad range of society – high and low, male and female, rich and poor – who express their innermost beliefs and extravagant fantasies in a series of stories they tell as they make their way to Canterbury cathedral.

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

Here are the beloved adventures of the mischievous hero Robin Hood and his brave and merry band of outlaws, who forged a chivalrous code to protect the oppressed and despoil the oppressors. Follow along as Robin makes his breathtaking escapes from his archenemy, the Sheriff of Nottingham, while classic characters like Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, and Little John create one hilarious escapade after another.

Histories

In this, the first prose history in European civilization, Herodotus describes the growth of the Persian Empire with force, authority, and style. Perhaps most famously, the book tells the heroic tale of the Greeks' resistance to the vast invading force assembled by Xerxes, king of Persia. Here are not only the great battles - Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis - but also penetrating human insight and a powerful sense of epic destiny at work.

The Consolation of Philosophy

The Consolation of Philosophy is one of the key works in the rich tradition of Western philosophy, partly because of the circumstances in which it was written. Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (c480-c524) was of aristocratic Roman birth and became consul and then master of offices at Ravenna, one of the highest posts under the Ostrogothic Roman ruler Theodoric. But Boethius was unjustly charged with treason in 524, and this led to house arrest, then torture and execution.

Publisher's Summary

This monumental work made the Arthurian cycle available for the first time in English. Malory took a body of legends from Celtic folklore that had been adapted into French literature, gave them an English perspective, and produced a work that ever since has had tremendous influence upon literature.

The story begins with King Uther Pendragon's use of enchantment to lay with Igraine, Duchess of Cornwall. Arthur is conceived and taken away in secret, returning as a young man to claim the throne by pulling the sword Excalibur from the stone. In retelling the story of Arthur's rule of Britain, Malory intertwines the romances of Guinevere and Launcelot, Tristram and Isolde, and Launcelot and Elaine. Sir Galahad's appearance at Camelot begins the quest for the Holy Grail. Finally, Camelot is brought down by the conflict between King Arthur and his natural son, Mordred.

(P)1997 Blackstone Audio Inc.

What the Critics Say

"The most authoritative version of the legend in the English tradition." (The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature) "Le Morte d'Arthur remains an enchanted sea for the reader to swim about in, delighting at the random beauties of 15th-century prose." (Robert Graves)

Like so many, I grew up reading the tales of Arthur, and though it's been years since I've read this particular version of it, it's always stood out to me as one of the best versions. Let it be said that it's still a fantastic version, but it's nowhere near as straightforward as I remember it.

The knights and their lineages are given rapidly (it's good to have Wiki or some other resource with you), and many of the story points are told out of order or given through prophecy. I realize that spoilers are a bit of a non-issue for a story like this, but for a first-timer, it's not the most friendly version. Then again, they do kind of give you all the spoilers in the book's description, don't they? Even so, it doesn't detract from the magic of the tales.

This particular reading... skip it. Unless you're already predisposed as liking Frederick Davidson's narrating style, let this be a warning. Like so many other reviewers, I find his voice to be ok, but his tone and presentation make him come across like a British Tommy Lee Jones: bored, annoyed, and otherwise disgusted with the material. I have an abridged version on cassette narrated by Derek Jacobi that I bought some 20+ years ago, and it's a far, far superior reading. I'd love to find an unabridged version by him or someone with equal enthusiasm for the material.

Le Morte D'Arthur is an easy listen and I would listen to it again because these timeless tales are always entertaining.

Have you listened to any of Frederick Davidson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This book is just as great as other Frederick Davidson's readings. I don't know why some people do not like his voice, I find it great. Have you ever heard him read Les Miserabes by Victor Hugo...FANTASTIC!

I got my MA in medieval literature, and was at first so psyched to see this text available as an audiobook — unfortunately, the choice of narrator is just ... SO bad! I absolutely love Malory's presentation of the Arthurian material, but this narrator sounds throughout the entire production as though he's just caught scent of something foul.

I really wrote this review because I was was nearly put off buying this audiobook because of the negative reviews of Frederick Davidson's narration. I'm glad I took the plunge. Davidson does an absolutely fabulous job with what is, after all, some challenging material. He makes it fresh and personal while preserving the formality of this old text. A triumph of literature (obviously) and of narration (contrary to the opinions of some other reviewers)!

I'd certainly recommend the book to a friend, but definitely not this specific recording.

What did you like best about this story?

Well, obviously the stories (which I heard bits and pieces of since childhood).

How could the performance have been better?

Honestly, it would be better if it used another reader. I read the other reviews complaining about this reader, but thought that maybe it was just the accent. I grew up in England, so I figured it wouldn't bother me. What I found is that it isn't the accent so much as the reader's style of reading. As someone else wrote, he really does read the story like there is something very foul and distasteful right under his nose. Somehow there also seems to be a constant note of condescension in his voice, like he's reading the story to what he thinks are group of not-too-bright school boys.It's very distracting.

Was Le Morte D'Arthur worth the listening time?

Since I ended up listening to it all over again with a different group of readers, no. Now the actual story (or really set of stories) is definitely worth the time -- it brings together some of the fundamental myths of western culture.

Any additional comments?

I have listened to hundreds (perhaps even thousands) of recorded books. Readers have their pluses and minus, but this one, with this book, is awful. I struggled through the first two books (about 10 hours) before I gave up and got the LibriVox version -- the amateur readers there do a much better job (and some can even pronounce the French correctly) :)

The chapter markers are completely meaningless for chapters in the work. Really disappointed in that. The reading is good but you really have to pay attention as it is read really quickly without a lot of breaks between sections of the stories.

It is difficult to pick only one thing and so I feel the best part of this book is the fact that you may see the root from which so many other hero stories draw their inspiration.

Have you listened to any of Frederick Davidson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have heard a number of Mr Davidson's performances and I feel that this one maintains the high standards that he has set before.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This is not a book for a single sitting. Putting it simply, there are just too many stories, characters and events for a single sitting (I had to break it up with something more modern; Hamlet). This is not truly flowing story because you are introduced to a astounding number of characters and the heroic events of their lives, which, putting it directly, makes this book better to be taken in sections in order to digest the events just listened to.

Any additional comments?

I was initially nervous about purchasing this book due the number of complaints about Mr Davidson's reading of it, but I can honestly say that his reading was excellent and that I have no idea why there are the complaints that there are or what provoked them. The reading was done by an Englishman about Englishmen and his variation of accent and attitude were excellent. The only complaint that I have ever had with Mr Davidson's characterizations were in the way he reads American accents, but as there are no Americans in this book I have no complaints about his performance.

The quality of the book is far below par it sounds like it's been recorded from a tape via the world worst mic.

Has Le Morte D'Arthur put you off other books in this genre?

No I still like the genre

How could the performance have been better?

Better quality recording

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointed by this

Any additional comments?

I would remove it until you manage to get a recording of better quality

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

Holland

6/6/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Fascinating stories, dreadful narration"

One of those books I'd always wanted to read but never got around to, so the chance to listen to it whilst commuting was too good to miss. The stories are often odd, sometimes amusing and regularly exciting. They also give a fascinating glimpse into the way the mediaeval mind worked.

However, I so nearly asked for a refund as the narration is quite simply diabolical. Frederick Davidson has a posh old Etonian-style accent and he enunciates well with no mistakes, but his delivery of the prose is as the dryest sermon you ever heard from some stuffy old vicar who has long since given up trying to win any new souls. There are no changes of mood, no excitement in the heat of battle, no sorrow or love, just stoic indifference (dearly beloved, blah, blah, blah). The dialogue is even worse as he changes hiis voice by moving back from the microphone, looking down his nose and expressing himself like a constipated wombat. Merlin, the kings, the knights of the round table and poor farmers alike are all afflicted with this most unnatural voice. Only Arthur himself (generally) manages to avoid the wombat treatment but instead sounds entirely effete.

In short, I thoroughly recommend the book, but not this version.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

aileen

6/5/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Awful"

This was worse than a bad toothache I feel that I wasted my credit. The narration was dismal. The writing felt like it was written by a twelve year old. Repetition repetition repetition. Love Arthurian legend but this could put me off forever. Could not recommend it in any way. I'm so sad.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

Report Inappropriate Content

If you find this review inappropriate and think it should be removed from our site, let us know. This report will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.